And the Mrs Lifestyle

So I have now been guilty of forgetting my pump bag at home when I’ve gone to work… Twice! And going more than 5 hours with a 3 month old, is pretty much boob suicide, let’s be honest. The pain is real. Very real. Also what do you do on car trips, or outings when sitting in the car isn’t very feasible? Manual pumps are a must have if you’re breast feeding.

First off, when they tell you to take all of the pump stuff but the motor in the hospital, DO IT! Even if it’s not the same brand. You can cut the ends off the tubes to fit your machine, tiny bottles can hold emergency formula once they outgrow it, and it doesn’t hurt to have extra parts! In fact my batch of stuff came with a manual pump and I didn’t realize it for 2 months!

I’m glad I never cut those ends off when I realized it went with this. This Medela pump works relatively quickly and I can do both boobs at the same time! You can also control the suction of every pull with a little rotator along the side.

The only downside to this is you need to use both hands, and it can get cumbersome if the flanges won’t stay attached.

But what if you don’t want to carry all the breast pump parts around and connect everything every time? Or what if you only need to do one side? Or what if you need a hand for so.ething else (Tending baby, working, on the phone, etc)?

Enter Lullababy’s silicone breast pump. This thing is a Godsend for when I’m at work and just need a little relief for mama (because let’s be honest, you need to pump as much for relief as you do for milk).

This is easily done one handed, is comfy, and you have complete and total control. Need a lot of pressure? Slow pumps? Fast pumps? Don’t want to think about it while you do busy work? It’s so easy.

The silicone is thick enough that I don’t feel like it’s going to break or lose shape, yet thin enough that it’s super easy and comfortable in your hand to squeeze without getting tired if it after a few minutes. The shape makes it easy to fit on to your skin, however you want to place it, and still allows the milk to be transferred to a bottle or bag without spilling everywhere. I do recommend not storing it in this as the lid is more for keeping it clean as opposed to storing in it.

The only downside to this one is that it only holds 3-4 ounces, but I only pump about 1.5-2 at a time because then it starts to kind of slosh everywhere inside and if you lose your suction it can make a mess.

But having some sort of manual pump to throw in the diaper bag or car or a must for emergencies so you don’t find yourself in pain, or trying to do things by hand just to help yourself out!

Looking for a breast pump? I got mine through Aeroflow and they were amazing! Took care of everything for me! Not sponsored by them, just helping out my Mama’s!